The following is a tabulation of some prior art that presently appears relevant:
U.S. Pat.Patent NumberFile DateIssue DatePatentee5,410,831Aug. 22, 1994May 2, 1995Felk, Edward K.5,926,987Aug. 8, 1997Jul. 27, 1999Novak, Peter8,109,023Feb. 16, 2010Feb. 7, 2012Pikielny, Dov6,094,850May 24, 1996Aug. 1, 2000Villani, Michael J.6,256,915Dec. 28, 1999Jul. 10, 2001da Silveira, Nilton6,622,411Aug. 29, 2002Sep. 23, 2003Lienbenberg, Paul6,785,994Jun. 17, 2003Sep. 7, 2004Christiansen, Ned F.6,857,213Dec. 3, 2003Feb. 22, 2005Fluhr, Norbert4,539,889Dec. 30, 1982Sep. 10, 1985Clock, Gaston
A chamber-loaded indicator is a device that indicates the presence of a cartridge in the chamber of a firearm. The status of a firearm, whereby the operational definition of status specifically relates to the state of the weapon being, loaded or unloaded is of great importance to the firearm operator. It is of utmost importance to the person(s) whose duty it is to carry a firearm on their person in the scope of their job. Military and law enforcement personnel are two specific examples of these types of individuals. The risk of not immediately knowing the status of the weapon can be lethal for the aforementioned groups, as combat readiness is a requisite of their job responsibilities. Moreover, within the course of these duties taking place irrespective of time of day; it is required that steps taken during daylight hours to verify the status of the weapon are repeatable where low-light to zero-light conditions exist. Instantaneous weapon status checks become of paramount importance for firearms operators when deployed into war, where split seconds can determine life or death for them.
To date there have been various attempts to provide weapon status indicators, specifically in the form of, “chamber loaded indicators.” While all the current various chamber loaded indicators available on all different models of firearms attempt to fulfill their intended purpose; none of them were designed from inception to, nor allow for, the same visual confirmation steps taken in lighted conditions to be taken in low-light to zero-light conditions without the use of an external light source.
This has been the case primarily because all previously designed chamber loaded indicators were intended for use in the civilian market, where instantaneous visual weapon status confirmation in either day or night is not life-threatening, nor is needed. Unfortunately, the hours of operation for war or policing activities do not only take place between the hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, or solely located on a shooting range.
Currently, all other chamber-loaded indicators rely on visual confirmation during lighted conditions, as well as providing a secondary status check capability in the form of tactile confirmation. However, as is most often the case both military and law enforcement personnel wear gloves within the scope of their work. This further limits the ability of all other chamber-loaded indicators to fulfill their intended purpose.
It is the case with all other chamber-loaded indicators, which claim a tactile form of weapon status confirmation as a secondary attribute, that the position of the chamber-loaded indicator mechanism itself to signal a state of loaded or unloaded is barely discernable with the naked hand. Therefore, this claimed tactile confirmation by all other chamber-loaded indicators is nearly impossible for those that do or must wear hand protection in the course of their work.
This barely discernable tactile confirmation by all other chamber-loaded indicators is quite common in all current existing designs. It is the case for firearms such as Springfield Armory's XD handgun including the XDm models, the difference in degrees by which the chamber-loaded indicator protrudes in loaded or unloaded state is minor, and is not quickly ascertainable either visually or tactilely. It is also the case for firearms manufacturer Beretta, their 92 series and the like. Firearms manufacturer Taurus who clones other manufacturers designs, not surprisingly exhibits this characteristic in their clones of Beretta's 92 series, and the like.
Firearms manufacturer Glock makes claims of their firearms being equipped with chamber-loaded indicator devices. However, their chamber-loaded indicator devices on all of their models are extremely difficult to confirm visually even in lighted conditions and would be virtually impossible to confirm if the operator's hands were covered with gloves.
All firearms manufacturers make it a key and primary claim the main reason for their chamber-loaded indicator is safety. The present invention considers one of its primary claims to improved chamber-loaded indicator creation as being one of increased versatility, specifically tactical practicality, with increased safety being a welcome secondary by-product.
Glock in fact added a chamber-loaded indicator to their line of handguns seemingly as an afterthought, and only starting with the 3rd generation of the same product line. Actually due to U.S. firearms importation laws, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms point system, and importation eligibility requirements probably had more to do with Glock adding a chamber-loaded indicator to their firearms than did safety reasons. Examining the Glock chamber-loaded indicator, which is actually added-on to the extractor component in all their handguns reveals what seems to be more of a fortuitous coincidence of manufacturing angles that allowed this quick and workable add-on than purpose driven engineering.
There is a need in the art for the uniformity of both universal functionality and safety. Changing environmental conditions should not detrimentally impact the operational usability and safety of firearms as is currently the case. The present invention seeks to add an additional factor in helping to preserve the uniformity of both universal functionality and safety in a constantly changing environment.